


Inked...Finally

by Mel_Sanfo



Series: Inked universe [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Roy Harper (mentioned) Nyssa Al Ghul (mentioned) Sara Lance (mentioned) John Diggle (mentioned)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 15:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5934121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mel_Sanfo/pseuds/Mel_Sanfo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity finally gets her tattoo!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inked...Finally

**Author's Note:**

  * For [L3cubed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/L3cubed/gifts), [dettiot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dettiot/gifts).



> When I first posted 'Inked' a lot of people were interested in getting a bit more of that story. 
> 
> With Masquerade still going I was unable to start another multi-chapter but the idea of Tattoo!Oliver and Felicity didn't leave my brain altogether and I really wanted to dive back into this universe for a little while.
> 
> So a continuation was in order. 
> 
> I hope you guys like it.
> 
> This is an early Valentine's day present to pretty much all Olicity readers but more specifically for Melissa and Laura.
> 
> As usual, I don't own Arrow (I wish!) and all mistakes are my own.

If anyone had told Felicity a year ago that she was going to find the love of her life at a tattoo and body art expo where there were needles galore she would’ve laughed. Because what were the odds that she’d even be in one of those in the first place? Let alone for her to find the elusive one there? But as she watched her drop dead gorgeous boyfriend pull on a t-shirt, covering not only the tattoo that he had gotten the fateful day that she’d met him but also the tattoo that depicted the solar system planets going straight down his spine, she had to admit she was happy.

Very happy. 

Their rendezvous was not planned, at least not the part where she had climbed him like a tree the moment he opened the door to his place for her but she couldn’t find it within herself to feel guilty when she was deliciously sore and sated from their activities. Even less when he set a sweat pant clad knee on the edge of the bed and leaned down to press a long kiss to her lips.

“I’m going to reheat the food.” he said after the kiss had ended, brushing his nose against hers. “Go ahead and have a shower then come downstairs, I did promise to feed you.” he added, another lazy smile tugging at his lips before he pecked her lips once and disappeared out of the room, with his grey sweats and his white t-shirt shielding his perfect body from her gaze.

Her mind drifted back to the day that they met as she climbed out of bed, unashamed of her nakedness and made her way to the simply sinful ensuite bathroom.

Dating the equivalent of a Rock Star of the tattoo world was interesting to say the least.

After her phone conversation with Nyssa Felicity had decided to take a plunge into the unknown and actually message Oliver, instead of coming up with an excuse to not go through with their dinner date plans. Her bravado had left her by the time she'd reached her car so it was up to her friend to talk her off the ledge of NOT using the phone number she had just acquired from a tattooed Greek god.

She had a feeling she would never live down the fact that she needed to listen to Nyssa more often, for her own good, because that night, as it turned out, she'd had the best date of her life!  

Felicity had gone with casual, she chose Big Belly Burger as their place to go to dinner. She figured if the date either took a nosedive for awkward land or, Google forbid, he thought better of his impulsive decision at the expo and didn't show up, she would at least be in the immediate vicinity of the best ‘processing time’ Mint chocolate chip milk shakes in all of Starling City to patch her through the hard times to come. 

In her head it was a win-win!

He had shown up though. Right at 7 PM, just as they had agreed, he had crossed the threshold of the restaurant's door, dwarfing it with his size, giving her a dazzling smile the moment his eyes found her already sitting at a booth. He looked just as surprised to see her there as she felt at him actually showing up!

Oh, what a pair they made.

It was almost comical to watch the reaction of some of the people around them as he passed them by, without a second glance, on his way to her. Women and men alike turned to look at him but really, who could have blamed them? He was rocking the frack out of a deep hunter green Henley, with the sleeves scrunched up to his elbows (displaying a delicious peek of his brand new tattoo), jeans and brown work boots.

She didn’t know when it happened but she found herself standing up, waiting for him by the booth she had selected.  

For the first time of the dating stage of her life she had forgone her standard date ensemble of dresses and heels. Instead she had opted for her comfortable pink panda faced flats, white skinny jeans and an indigo cap sleeved blouse that made her both feel pretty and her eyes pop. She figured, the man she was meeting was an artist so he would probably appreciate her love for color.

The look he was giving her didn’t disappoint. 

Before she knew it he was standing in front of her, the smile still adorning his features as he looked at her from his height. 

“Hey.”

Having his sole focus made a cluster of butterflies churn deliciously in her tummy.

“Hi.” and if her voice sounded a bit breathless, no one could really blame her. 

“Can I have your name now?” he asked, a glint of mischief glinting in his blue eyes along with a look so hopeful she couldn't have denied him, even if she had wanted to.

Which she most certainly did not.

“Felicity. Smoak.”

“Felicity…”

Just like that her name became one of her favorite things to hear him say.

And hear him say it she did. Throughout their date he said her name often, as if it was his very own brand new favorite word. They talked about his work, the cherry blossoms tree tattoo was the first topic they touched on and they went from there. Surprisingly, the conversation didn’t stall once. Half way through their date he shifted his seating arrangement, from sitting across from her, with the table standing between them, to sitting beside her. His excuse? Showing her some of his personal favorites from the pictures he kept on his phone.

Felicity didn’t mind the closeness one bit.

When their date came to an end, the restaurant staff wanting to close for the night, she left him with a lingering sweet kiss on the cheek and a promise that she would call him when she got home. The fact that he cared enough to ask for the latter making her heart fill with warmth. She didn’t expect her ‘I got home safely’ call to turn into a brand new conversation between them that went on to the wee hours of the night, when her phone beeped in her ear warning her about the impending doom of her battery giving up on her from lack of juice.

They’d said their goodbyes and promised to try and schedule another date soon but Oliver was a busy man; with his tattoo shop, his tightly scheduled appointments and his traveling for both expo’s and customers it was difficult but he still made time for her, even if they didn’t get to see each other as much as either of them would have liked.

There were texts and calls exchanged, almost religiously, every single day as well as quick coffee dates when he managed to be in the city before having to leave for somewhere else or to tend to a client. But it was one particular occasion, when he’d had to travel for a high profile body art conference, that would change the way things were between them forever...with the help of a Skype call.

It had been late in Gotham and he’d been tired, she could see it in his eyes and the way his big body seemed to sag a bit as he sat there before the computer. During their conversation he had admitted, absentmindedly, that he missed her without realizing what he had said or the effect that it would have on her and it took most of her willpower to not go into a babble about it and make him uncomfortable.

By the time they were saying goodbye, it seemed they were always saying goodbye to one another, Felicity was unable to contain herself any longer and dropped the bomb with a simple…

“Just so you know. I miss you too, Oliver.”

His face at the realization of what he’d said, minutes before, was priceless and then a smile unlike any other she’d seen from him bloomed in his features making him seem more energized than before.

“Can I cook dinner for you when I come back home tomorrow night?” he asked

“Yes.” her answer was immediate.

“I’ll text you the details on how to get to my place. I’ll see you tomorrow, Felicity. Good night.”

It was only after he’d disconnected their call that Felicity had a mini meltdown about what she’d just agreed to do.

The next night was the first time that Felicity had ever visited his home. The first time he cooked for her; a delicious chicken dish with raspberry sauce, roasted potatoes and greens that had been heavenly. It was also the first time that they had decided on labels for what they were to each other.

The first night that they chose one another.

They decided to take things slow, in part because of his schedule and Felicity’s relationship insecurities.

They dated for months before diving into the intimacy part of their relationship. With his rap-sheet of sex first turned into bad relationships and her own not so stellar record they had decided it was for the best, as frustrating as it could be at times. Once again the trigger for it all happened during a Skype call and Felicity wondered if Skype would become their thing. The call made Felicity realize that she was ready to take that next step with him.

Oliver had called her an hour or so earlier than what she had expected and once she was able to see him she knew immediately that something was up. There was tension on his shoulders, a small vein on his forehead was visible and his jaw was so tightly clenched that she was surprised she couldn’t hear his teeth grinding.

“Uh oh, you have Angry Face.” The words came spilling out of her mouth without any way to stop them, they made her cringe while scrunching up her nose cutely at her faux pas. “I swear my brain thinks of the worst way to say things.”

But it was worth it. The way he relaxed was visible and she was rewarded with a low breath like chuckle.

“Angry Face, huh?”

“Not nearly as bad anymore.” She mumbled sheepishly before straightening up on her chair, tilting her head to look at him. “What’s going on?”

What he had told her was a sordid tale of an appointment gone terribly wrong. He’d traveled to L.A. for a customer, a well-known music starlet with a wide array of tattoos that had chosen Oliver to be her new tattoo artist, but what he found there was nothing that he expected.

“Apparently she is very set in her ways.” he explained running one of his hands over his face. “And she has a ritual regarding her tattoos.”

“Okay?” she asked, looking confused.

“I’m under contract not to give away any details.” he admitted with a sigh “So I will just say that the type of closeness she required from me before I could leave my ink on her body was not the kind of deal I was interested in making.”

“Oh… OH! Really? She… does.. _.that_? With every single tattoo artist she’s ever had? Doesn’t she have a lot of them?”

“Yeah… she does.”

“Wow… just...wow.” That was all her brain could supply at the time, because she was pretty sure she had read somewhere that the starlet in question had at least 20 tattoos all over her body, all done by different artists.

“So, for the first time in a long while I had to refuse a customer.” he was saying, pulling her out of musings. “Sara was pissed too, the screening should’ve taken care of something like this before we got out here for nothing.”

“Wait… you, you what?”

The look he gave her melted her heart, all soft eyes and a little smile on his lips.

“You should be aware, Miss Smoak, that I am currently in a committed relationship.” he explained “Against all odds I found an amazing woman who hasn’t let my old track record for having a meandering eye discourage her. There’s no way I’ll willingly mess that up.”

When he had arrived back to Starling City a few days later Felicity had invited him over to her place for take-out and Netflix, since she couldn’t cook to save her life. They’d had Chinese food, wine and Mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert while she schooled him on one of her favorite TV shows.

Sometime during the night their couch cuddling had led to more… much more.

Oliver had been forced to call Sara, his assistant, who was in charge of his schedule and appointments, to reschedule all clients for the next two days. Neither one of them ever confirmed the fact that he had made that particular ‘call of shame’ from Felicity’s bed while the blonde in question did some healthy and thorough explorations of his abs while he spoke on the phone. They suspected, however, that Sara knew all along by the sly looks and comments she made sometimes.   

All throughout their relationship, even when they were still at the ‘hanging out’ stage, Oliver was working on getting her comfortable with the idea of getting a tattoo, getting her as prepared for it as he could. After intimacy was introduced to their life as a couple though many nights would be spent with Felicity in boy shorts and a bra so that Oliver could use her body as a canvas, using special washable markers on her skin, drawing all kinds of different tattoos all over her body.

He had also let her take apart one of his tattoo guns, not telling her that it was his favorite till much later in life, and put it back together. He explained all aspects of tattooing, all the steps he took, all the safety measures, and made a recording of one of his sessions to get her used to the sound of the machine.

Felicity had teased him about him trying to ‘Pavlov’ her, a reference that had gone so over his head she'd had to explain to him about Pavlov’s dog.

He showed her the different needles that he used, talked about their different sizes and what each one was used for. He even gave Nyssa a tattoo, just so that Felicity could sit in and watch, up close, taking in the whole experience without being on the chair herself.

Sara and Nyssa, hit it off straight away after that first meeting, when Oliver had given Felicity’s best friend the tattoo of a small canary.

The wistful smile on her face couldn’t be helped as she ‘borrowed’ a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt from Oliver’s wardrobe, the memories of all that had happened and how they had gotten here making her so happy she couldn’t NOT smile. She made her way from his bedroom to the kitchen slash dining area where her amazing boyfriend had already set up the table and was now placing the food down for them.

“Raspberry chicken? Are we celebrating something?” she asked.

“I had to redo the sauce but yes, raspberry chicken for our late lunch.” he answered throwing a wink her way before sobering up. “I know, it’s one of your favorites of the things I cook. And about the celebration part… that sort of depends on how later goes.”

“Later?” she asked, slowly taking a seat on one of the chairs, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“Later.” Was all he said.

The food was amazing, as she’d gotten used to whenever he cooked for her. She was sure that just how it was said that people got hit a few times with the ‘ugly’ stick, Oliver Queen had been hit several times with the ‘talented’ stick. If he hadn’t had a great career as a tattoo artist cooking should’ve been something he pursued.

Late lunch was spent talking, as it happened with most of their meals. He was giving her the look, the one that said that he highly appreciated her wearing his clothes. But as the end of the lunch grew nearer there was some serious fidgeting going on his part and she didn’t quite understand why. He kept bouncing his knee, up and down, under the table, the movement noticeable only by the effect it had on the rest his whole body. And for some reason he didn’t know what to do with his hands. He’d set them on the table then move them off, rub his thighs then put them up on the table again before repeating the cycle. Felicity, being the slow eater that she was, watched him with curious eyes throughout the rest of her meal, wondering exactly what was going on.

Was he nervous? And if so, why? 

“I have a surprise for you.” he admitted, finally, after he had cleared up the table and taken the dishes to the sink.

“Oliver, you know I hate surprises.”

“No, you hate mysteries.” he countered.

“Surprises are mysteries with glittering bows and wrapping paper attached to them.” she replied, scrunching up her nose in distaste.

He laughed at that, shaking his head at her before tending his hand towards her.

 “Come on. I want to show you so we can put this mystery to rest.”

As soon as she’d stood up he was leading her to the room in his house he’d set up as a studio; this is where he took care of his closest friends when they wanted some art done on them as well as the most exclusive of his customers. It was the room he had done Nyssa’s canary tattoo in.

“You mentioned a while back that your grandmother’s birthday was coming up so I’ve been working on something for you.” he admitted, pulling her towards the table he used for sketching. “I had done many drawings regarding the idea of your tattoo but none of them was good enough. They were all missing something. Then I remembered you said your grandmother liked writing letters and thank you notes the old fashioned way.”

When he had her by the table he took out one of his many sketchbooks and started flipping through the pages, looking for something with an exuberance that had Felicity very curious.

“I wasn’t sure about the whole thing until you showed me that letter a few weeks ago, the letter she sent you when you got accepted and decided to go away to college. After that I had a better direction to go in. I traced her handwriting for that saying you pointed out to me and came up with this.”

His flipping of the pages had stopped and the drawing he had stopped at made Felicity’s heart start thundering. It was a beautiful quill spelling out the words ‘keep moving forward’ in her grandmother’s handwriting but the feather part of it took the cake! It was breathtaking with its bright pinks, oranges, yellows and hints of reds, like a sunset, turning from a feather to little plumes of fire at the top. It was small in size though, barely four inches tall in total. Just like she wanted.

“Is that a phoenix feather?” she found herself asking, tracking the flames at the top of the drawing with one of her forefingers, in awe of the artistry.

“Yes.” He said, watching all of her reactions with greedy eyes. “Do you like it?”

“Like it? Oliver, I love it! It’s perfect!” she admitted, unable to turn away from it.

“Now that I have the drawing and your approval on it I can get a stencil done, whenever you are ready and we can get it done.”

“Now.”

His shocked expression made a giggle escape her, or perhaps it was the giddiness that she felt at seeing the drawing finally realized into something concrete, no longer the abstract in her head. Because there couldn’t have been a better representation, a better piece of art, for her. All of the conversations, all of her stipulations, all of her preferences had been taken into account to create this amazing piece, meant just for her. 

“Now?” he asked

“Do you have the colors?” she countered, leaving no room for argument. 

“Yes, I do.” he answered, a glint of mischief coming to life in his eyes before he grinned widely at her. “Let’s get you inked then.”

Excitement warred with nervousness as she laid herself down on his tattoo chair, which he had arranged to be lying flat. The placement of the tattoo had been decided on, by her, ages ago and Oliver had approved, wholeheartedly. The top of the outside of her left thigh seemed like the best spot to her. It should’ve been an easy to deal with spot, after all, with it being fleshy enough that she wouldn’t feel the added discomfort of getting a tattoo done close to bone (Oliver had advised against doing that for her first one). Away from direct contact with water, for when she showered. High enough on her leg that it would be easily concealable, if she wanted it to be, but it still would give tantalizing peeks if she wore one of her short skirts.

This was a private mark of her choosing and his making. 

“You ready?” he asked after he had prepped everything on his tray.

She could only nod at his words and when the tattooing machine came on she let out a giggle and conceded that she had totally been ‘Pavloved’ because the noise from the little machine, which was supposed to inflict all sorts of unspoken pain to her, served as an anchor to this moment just as good as Oliver’s latex covered hand coming to rest on her skin, after having rolled the fabric of his gym shorts up towards the apex of her legs to get it out of the way.

The thing about tattoos is that everyone reacts to the action of getting them differently. And the reactions have to do with both their pain tolerance threshold as well as how mentally prepared they are or how used they are to the action. Oliver had admitted to her once that he had fallen asleep while getting his solar system tattoo while Roy, on the other hand, swore that he was always hyper aware of everything when he wasn’t the one wielding the tattoo gun. So much so, in fact, that Oliver and Diggle were the only two other artists that he trusted to work on him.

For Felicity it was easy to let the sound of the tattoo gun lull her into a relaxed state. She sunk a bit into the chair and let her mind wander. A lot of the people complained that getting tattooed hurt and Felicity had talked to Oliver about that particular concern, extensively. He had said that there were numbing creams that could help her out but in his opinion, and experience, it only made the transition harder for the client in the long run because once the numbing agent was gone the aftermath seemed even worse than getting used to the pain gradually would have been.

Felicity decided right then and there to not use numbing agents at all. 

It didn’t hurt though, not really, and she was surprised, very surprised, that she wasn’t jumping off the chair as some people had sworn they’d done at the first touch of the gun; Oliver’s hand steadying her leg as he worked was a delicious warm anchor. The experience wasn’t painful, nor did it sting, it was more like a dull burn on her skin that prickled bordering in discomfort.

Oliver worked in complete silence, she knew this from the time that he had tattooed Nyssa, and though the blonde was used to talking or babbling, at this point in time she took in the silence between them and relished it, keeping her eyes trained on the art appearing on her skin. This was just like when he’d drawn on her but better, since this piece was going to be with her for a lifetime.

It was almost hypnotic. His hand moving the tattoo gun with expertise, he’d pause and survey his work after wiping the area down with a paper towel then he’d start up again. This was done over and over, him dunking the tip of the machine into the colors, switching needles, tattooing, wiping, surveying, all in deep concentration. He worked almost without pause, keeping to the rhythm he had while being in the zone, unless he took a moment to ask her how she was. 

He did that several times throughout the session. 

‘Doing ok? Still feeling good? Do we need to take a break? How are you holding up?’

The fact that he questioned her about how she was handling it all made her heart beat a bit faster.

He worked on her skin for hours, without getting a complaint from her once; when he pulled back, turning off his tattoo gun and wiping at the tattoo with a brand new paper towel Felicity realized that he had finished. The colors now adorning her skin surprised her in their brightness and she immediately adored it. It really didn’t look like a tattoo but a painting etched there.

He lathered up her skin with a clear colored greasy cream she didn’t recognize before sitting back fully and disposing of the gloves.

“You’re all done.” he said with a beaming smile that couldn’t have been defined as anything else but smug.

Like a kid on Christmas morning Felicity scrambled off the tattoo chair and went to stand before the full length mirror, lifting the fabric of the gym shorts she’d borrowed from him, staring at the reflection with wide eyes. She had done it. She had actually gotten a tattoo! Fear of needles and all!

And it was beautiful! 

She was sore in that spot, yes, but it was worth it. It was so beautiful!

“Oh my god, Oliver…” she actually had to force herself to keep from touching her brand new tattoo as she had done the drawing on his sketchbook. “It’s perfect!” she continued, catching his eye in the mirror’s reflection for a second when he came to stand behind her. “Look at it! I just can’t seem to stop looking at it!” The skin was red, inflamed due to the mistreatment, but she still couldn’t have been happier. “I love it! I can’t believe we actually did it. Google, I love everything about it! I love the colors, the shape, the image itself, and the whole idea behind it. I loved the experience too, which is surprising because even though I was really ready to get it I was still afraid I was going to have a major meltdown during the whole thing. Oh...and I love the fact that it was you that did it. I love you all the more for…”

The end to her ramble died on her lips when she was surprised by a very eager Oliver with a scorching kiss. It was all teeth and tongue, hunger and passion, the kind of kiss he usually gave her when he’d been away for a few days, for business, with one of his hands holding her by the hip and the other at the back of her neck. It was bruising in the best possible way, making her go weak at the knees and melt into him, mewling her approval. Her little sound made him slow things down with the kiss till he was sipping at her lips, as if she was the best vintage of wine he had ever tasted.

“I love you, too.”

It was a rough whisper almost pressed to her lips and the weight of his words was devastating.

She had known that she felt it, she had been sure of it for a long time now but every time she found herself in the brink of saying those very important three little words she’d held herself back.

Not anymore, it seemed.

That had to be the best babble she had ever done, even if the moment hadn’t happened through Skype like most of their important ones.

By the laugh he let out she was sure she had said that part out loud and even though she blushed, profusely, she knew deep down that she wouldn’t have had this moment any other way. Like her brand new tattoo, it was perfect.

 

* * *

 

Through the rest of their lives together tattoos became their way to celebrate and acknowledge milestones in their relationship. Their engagement, a year or so after Felicity got her first tattoo, was marked into their skin to be joined a year later by another piece of art to celebrate their marriage. With the birth of their twin boys, a few years after that, two more tattoos joined the canvas of their skin, as well as another one for when they had their third child, a little girl.

Oliver’s art became even more well-known and though some of his best work was part of his wife’s skin pictures of those tattoos never saw the light of day for publicity purposes. They were private reminders of their journey and sacred to him.

Felicity’s career, after opening her own firm of cyber security services, took off like a rocket and it wasn’t long before she became a consultant for Queen Consolidated, of all places. Earning the respect of both Robert and Moira Queen and finally breaching the gap between them and their ‘not so wayward anymore’ son.

And it all happened thanks to Nyssa, the godmother to her and Oliver’s only daughter, who had explained to Felicity many years before the importance of finding the right artist for her.

 


End file.
